Shire Sports Medicine

Well said KK 👏🏼👏🏼

Elise Kellond-Knight: Why 'unfair and dangerous' focus on Sam is bad for her and the Matildas Veteran midfielder says injuries are part of any tournament and rest of Australian squad needs to be allowed to get on with its campaign.

‘They’re all in sync together’: How the Matildas manage their menstrual health ‘Phase-based training’ for female athletes is making international waves but Australia’s medical and sports science team have adopted a more holistic approach to monitoring players’ menstrual cycles.

Behind the scenes at the Matilda’s pre camp in the lead up to the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
First game kicks off in 4 days time …. It’s been 2 years of preparation since the Olympics and we’re ready 👊🏼💚💛⚽️

Celebrating all the wonderful women I’m so privileged to work with in my job as a Sports Physician on International Women’s Day. Women who are not only my colleagues but also my best friends on and off the field!
I hope one day International Women’s Day won’t be a thing because gender equality will be the norm but I’m also aware that we’ve come so far on that front already and I’m incredibly grateful to be able to have a job where I can travel the world and reach career heights that many women of decades past could only dream of whilst also being a mum. So thanks obviously needs to go to both my incredible husband and parents .elliott who allow me to live the dual life of a professional and mum which gives me so much more joy than either of those two “career paths” would alone ❤️❤️

The Champion team and the team of Champions behind the team!
There’s so much more to sports medicine and sports science than most people realise that goes into helping these professional athletes compete at their best on the pitch game after game and I’m so lucky to work with some of the best professionals in the business and call them my mates too 💛💚

First camp of 2023 with the Matilda’s …..it’s going to be a big year this year with the World Cup only months away.
We’re playing Spain tonight at 6pm Sydney time and you can watch on

A glimpse behind the scenes at the Matilda’s Spanish camp …..there’s far more to being a sports doctor than just medical treatments!

Bring your kid to work day 🏉
The irony is that I grew up supporting the dragons and today my kids will sit in roosters jerseys next to my parents who are still loyal to the dragons with my husband who is an emphatic sharks supporter (and so are my kids unless they’re are at one of my work games!) ….I guess that’s football for you.
Lest we forget ❤️

Proud of my sister, the girls and the new club ….. for those who don’t know also happens to be Shire Sports Medicine’s sonographer for all our injections too!

Posted • A women’s only rugby club, Burraneer Rugby Club, has launched in the Sutherland Shire.

The club has declared it’s not “anti-male” but simply wants an environment where women can feel supported.

Burraneer Rugby Club president and former Australian Rugby 7s player Maddi Anderson said she’s been overwhelmed with positive feedback from the local community after the club won its first tournament at the Kiama Sevens on Saturday.

The Matildas are on their way to the first game of the Tokyo Olympics v New Zealand 💚💛⚽️🇦🇺
You can watch the game on channel 7 in Australia at 930pm AEST 👊🏼

This happens to be the title of one of my favourite books for women of all ages who want to get into strength training but don't know where to start (by Miriam Nelson) ..... and it is also the topic of my upcoming webinar in conjunction with BusyBods this Thursday evening (details in the following post). Tune in if you're free!!

✨The team behind the team ✨
People often ask me if I miss playing team sport but my honest answer is no..... because my job is a team sport (and I get to sit on the sideline of some of the most amazing teams watching them play and call it work!!)
Most people don’t know how much work actually goes on behind the scenes to help our professional sporting teams make their jobs look easy ..... this tour was 10 days straight of 15 hour days for me with 24 hours travel time either side (and 2 weeks locked in a hotel room at the end) and I had one of the easier jobs.
Honoured and privileged to have worked along side every one of these legends ☝🏼 who all made many sacrifices and put in countless hours of hard work to play their part without complaint and who continue to be there for each other as we endure the second challenge of the trip here in hotel quarantine 👊🏼

💚💛 M A T I L D A S 💛💚⚽️
It was an honour and a privilege to work with this amazing team at their first international games in over a year (due to the covid situation) to kick off their very limited preparation for the Tokyo 2020➡️2021 Olympics.
The score board might have not been our way this time but behind the scenes I witnessed something far greater than that.....these humble, hard working, talented, gusty women lead by the new head coach who cares about the welfare of the players as much as he does about the results and believes that you can strive for greatness in both.
To choose to play the 2nd and 3rd ranked teams in the world on your first gig with a team shows the bigger picture is more important than the smaller battle and I can’t wait to watch these ladies thrive and prosper in the next few years under his leadership
“Play like it’s your last game ever but learn like you’re going to play every day for the rest of your life” TG ..... a great motto for football and for life itself 👊🏼

So privileged to be working alongside these amazing women over here in the Netherlands. True professionals on and off the field.

Let’s go tillies 💚💛⚽️🇦🇺

Ultimate Guide: Westfield Matildas v Netherlands

🌟 🤸🏽‍♂️ O N E Y E A R 🤸🏽‍♂️🌟

Shire Sports Medicine is celebrating its first anniversary this week! Thank you to everyone who has supported the clinic - the staff, the loyal referrers and of course the wonderful patients that make my job so rewarding every day.

Who would’ve thought that opening a clinic in the middle of a global pandemic would be so successful and enjoyable!
Below is an excerpt from what I said when we opened and those words couldn’t be more true a year later:
⁠....There’s much more to Sport and Exercise Medicine than just sports coverage and treating athletes and now more than ever, people are keeping active in ways they never have before. This is one of the accidental benefits of having more time and less options to fill it with during these restrictions. ⁠
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You should keep active and you should not be in pain. ⁠
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COVID-19 restrictions or not, every member of the community should be able to participate in physical activity without it causing them pain, injury or illness. Sedentary people should feel empowered to start exercising for the first time in their lives without prejudice or fear. ⁠
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Optimal athletic performance is not just achieved by training with an absence of injury and illness. Elite athletes should have access to valid, reliable and accurate health and performance information to ensure they reach their peak when it counts. ⁠
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For all these reasons and more, I created Shire Sports Medicine, to help everyone in the community achieve their physical activity, exercise, health and sports performance goals.
.....So if you’ve got a ni**le that’s preventing you from being active, give us a call or book online.....there’s even Telehealth options for people not living in Sydney (or Australia!)

This is my mum 👇🏼....... she’s 66 years old and does strength training 3 times per week at a crossfit gym full of young, fit people. She just does what she can, within her limits, never complaining and always trying hard.
She had a hip replacement 17 years ago. She has arthritis in her feet. She’s allergic to almost all pain medication. She lifts weights to keep her muscles strong which helps protect her bones and joints. This also helps reduce her pain. She is my inspiration. Let her be yours. Women (and men) of all ages should strength train at least 2-3 times per week. Don’t find excuses, find time instead.
Thanks for the epic photos elliott 💪🏼😘

When mum works for the opposition!

Just because you can now go to the gym everyday doesn't mean you should!⁠⁠
Give yourself rest days. It’s exciting to get back into the gym or get back to training but you’ve been out for 3-4 months so don’t start back with double sessions 7 days a week. ⁠⁠
Our bodies actually get stronger and fitter between the training sessions, not during them, so if you don’t have adequate rest then you can’t repair and build muscle to cope with the demands of your sport. ⁠⁠
Visit the Shire Sports Medicine website www.shiresportsmedicine.com.au for more information on recovery!⁠

Sometimes the best laid plans aren't as easy as they seem. ⁠⁠
Gyms are back open and it seems like a good idea to get back into exercise but even the thought of it makes you tired?⁠⁠
If you're unsure about when it is safe to return to exercise after having a baby and how to go back to training, we have specific post partum consultations at Shire Sports Medicine to help you get fit and healthy, which will benefit both you and your baby.⁠⁠
Book online or call 8544 3680. There's even telehealth options if you're not local!

It's so good to be back in the gym but if you find yourself in pain from the things you haven't done for 12 weeks, you might need some help to resolve it.⁠⁠
If you have an injury, a small ni**le or something starts to hurt that hasn’t been, don’t ignore it. ⁠⁠
It’s common to get DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) when returning to an activity after a break but this is usually worse in the first 24-48 hours and gone by 4 days. ⁠⁠
If your pain lasts longer than a week despite adequate rest and recovery, get it seen to early by a physiotherapist or Sport and Exercise Physician rather than waiting until 3 months down the track when it’s keeping you up at night and you can’t do any exercise. ⁠⁠
It’s easier to correct small insults to the body early, than wait until compensation and poor movement patterns have set in, or you’ll end up having 5 injuries to fix instead of 1.

Now that gyms are opening again, there's more options for keeping fit during your pregnancy. ⁠⁠
If you're unsure on what is safe and how to train, we have specific pregnancy consultations at Shire Sports Medicine to help you stay fit and healthy for both you and your unborn child.⁠⁠
Book online or call 8544 3680. There's even telehealth options if you're not local!⁠

12 weeks is a long time to be out of the gym completely.....it's great to be back but don't dive in so hard that you end up injured in the first week.⁠⁠
Just because you used to be able to squat 100kg in the gym doesn’t mean you should go back and do 5 sets of 10 reps at 80kg on the first day back. ⁠⁠
Pick a weight that you think you could easily do 3 sets of 10 prior to gym closure, reduce it by 10 – 20% and do 3 sets of 6-8 reps to start with.⁠⁠
This also applies to distances and intensity on cardio machines.⁠⁠
Only increase by 10% in load per week when returning to anything as a rule of thumb.

Check out the latest blog post on our website for tips to avoid injury on your return: https://shiresportsmedicine.com.au/returning-to-sport-after-covid-19-or-any-extended-break/

We're all excited to get back to the gym this weekend and the NSW state government has just announced a return to community sport on the 1st July.

This is great news for everyone but it also has me worried. 12 weeks is a long time to be out of a gym completely and 4 months is a long time out of sport for people who have played some form of sport on most weekends of the year for many years.

Check out the latest blog post on our website for tips to avoid injury on your return: https://shiresportsmedicine.com.au/returning-to-sport-after-covid-19-or-any-extended-break/

It's been so good to see the huge numbers of people enjoying outdoor physical activity in the past few months due to closure of gyms and other COVID-19 restrictions but I am also starting to see an increase in overuse injuries come through the clinic in the past few weeks.

Running through your pain is not the answer and unfortunately neither is resting for a few days and trying again.

Tendons need optimal load.....not too much but not too little either. Some timely advice now might save you months of ongoing pain.

For more information on overuse injuries, head to the resource section of my website:

https://shiresportsmedicine.com.au/resources/overuse-injuries/

Keep up the good work but don't overdo it!

It’s back to the sporting sidelines tonight with the NRL for Dr Cole after a few months of absence due to the COVID 19 restrictions. ....... whilst this is great news for both the Roosters and Brandi, we’re not sure how happy her family will be when they play the sharks 😉

It's been wonderful to see the increase in physical activity that has accompanied the increase in free time during the COVID-19 restrictions, but now that we're over 50 days into home isolation in Australia, I'm starting to see the overuse injuries from a sudden and sustained increase in physical loading since the start of lockdown.
If you're experiencing pain with an activity that you might have done once every month but more recently have been doing it on a daily basis, you might have overloaded your soft tissues.
Chances are, if your pain doesn't resolve in 1-2 days of rest then it probably won't go away on its own, so rather than wait until you have 3 months of pain and misery, pop in to your local physiotherapist or Sports Physician for a review. Early treatment leads to quick resolution!

I hear so many people talk about carbohydrates negatively as if the only reason they're unhealthy/unhappy/overweight is because they eat carbohydrates and if they just removed them from their diet they'd be healthy/happy/skinny!
Did you know that there are only 3 main macronutrients that make up our food (some others exist that we don't digest).....carbohydrates, fats and proteins. So if you don't eat carbohydrates at all then your diet is completely made up of fats and proteins. Some people manage this well (this is essentially what the keto diet is) but the point is that maybe you should look at what types of carbohydrates you want to remove from your diet, rather than just getting rid of the whole lot.
You can certainly do without chips, cakes, lollies and biscuits but fruit and vegetables give us so many important nutrients and yes, they're carbohydrates too!
So next time you think about cleaning up your diet, opt for whole foods rather than processed foods....that's a much better way to discriminate between the good and the bad!

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mums!

Being a mother is one of the most challenging jobs I've had (much harder than being a doctor), especially during recent times with the extra demands of COVID-19, however it is also one of the most rewarding jobs and I am so grateful to have been blessed with the opportunity to raise these two cheeky monkeys.

To all the mums out there - no matter how much you are struggling, you are doing the best you can and that is all anyone will ever ask of you. Children need love and support not money and possessions. Give them your time and cuddle them tightly. You are their world and you make the world a better place for them. Cheers to you!

After 7 weeks of social restrictions in Australia to reduce the spread of COVID-19, we've seen a "flattening of the curve" and from next week the government will start to ease some of these restrictions. ⁠⁠⁠
For some people this period of time has made them busier but others have found themselves with more spare time due to reduced work ours or temporary loss of work all together. While there have been many devastating consequences of this situation to physical and mental health from disease and economic stresses, some people have found time to reconnect with their families and participate in physical activity. ⁠⁠⁠
I have seen more families out bike riding or walking together in the past 2 months than I've ever seen before. I hope as we are allowed to resume some level of normality in our daily routine, we will all find a place in the day to keep these "new" activities going. ⁠⁠⁠
Make family time and exercise your priority, no matter how busy you get. One day your kids will thank you for it and you might even thank yourself.